In These Arms Tonight
by Red Shoe Kitty
Summary: Jack returns from The Year That Never Was to find many things have changed. Can he get things back to how they were? AU
1. Chapter 1

With a deep sigh of contentment, Jack Harkness shrugged his greatcoat on and, with one more hug for The Doctor and Martha, stepped out into the weak sunshine of a spring Cardiff evening. He took a deep breath savouring the taste and smells of the city that he now called home. He turned to face The Doctor, who was lounging in the doorway of the Tardis with a wistful smile on his face,

'You don't have to go, you know Jack' he said, 'I'd be proud and happy if you would agree to travel with me again.'

Jack gave him a sweet smile, 'thanks, Doc but I know where I need to be' the smile deepened, 'and I know who I need to be with.'

The Doctor nodded, 'Good luck, Jack. I hope everything works out for you.'

'As long as he is still willing to have me, it will.' Jack threw The Doctor a salute and ran to the invisible lift.

The Doctor watched sadly as Jack disappeared from view, 'Be happy Jack,' he whispered softly, 'after everything I have put you through, all the sacrifices I have asked of you, no-one deserves happiness more.'

A snort came from behind him, 'you couldn't have said that to his face?' asked Martha, 'you never even acknowledged what he did for us, for you. Tish told me what Jack suffered at the hands of that maniac, torture, rape and death, day after day, hour after hour. He saved us all, he saved your Tardis and cared for her whilst you were too busy grieving over the man who caused so much misery and suffering and you haven't even told him how much of a debt you owe him.'

'Jack makes me uncomfortable' said The Doctor defensively.

'Oh, well, by all means we must make sure that you are comfortable,' snapped Martha. She turned away from the Timelord and moved back into the Tardis. 'I'd like you to take me home now, please'

The Doctor raised a puzzled eyebrow, 'I thought you wanted to travel with me?'

Martha stood at the central control panel of the Tardis, running her hands gently over the smooth console, 'I thought I wanted that too,' she said sadly, 'but then I also thought you were the most wonderful man I had ever met, I thought I loved you until I saw how carelessly and unkindly you treated a really wonderful man, how selfishly you viewed his sacrifice for you. You knew he would turn down the chance to travel with you because after everything he has been though he needs to be with his Ianto, you offered him what he longed for at the precise moment he no longer wanted it. You are a hollow man, Doctor. You have no substance, no personality.' She faced the stunned Timelord and waved an illustrative hand towards him, 'this character, this image – it's all a charade. Jack doesn't make you uncomfortable because he is a fixed point in time, he makes you uncomfortable because he is a hundred, a thousand times the man you are.'

The Doctor scowled, he was hurt he couldn't deny it. 'So, in love with Jack now are you? A little fickle aren't we?'

'Jack is a very loveable man' retorted Martha, 'his love and his loyalty to his friends is a lesson it would do you good to learn. I'm not in love with Jack and he would never fall in love with me; his love is reserved for you for some reason and for Ianto Jones, more for him than you, now, I think if I'm honest. Jack and I spent a lot of time talking and sharing our stories with each other in the aftermath of The Valiant, putting ourselves back together whilst you were moping around over The Master. I saw the look in his eyes when he spoke of Ianto and the pain in them when he spoke of you. I'm not in love with you either, seeing you as you really are, that was a real wake up call for me. I'm not going to waste my time mooning around after someone who is not capable of loving me the way I deserve, I'm going to find someone who will make me look like Jack does when he talks about Ianto.'

'Well' said The Doctor, coldly 'you certainly have made your feelings crystal clear.'

'Good'

The short journey through the time vortex back to Martha's home was carried out in cold silence.

* * *

Jack could feel his heart rate accelerate as he descended into the hub on the invisible lift. He was less sure of his reception than his cocky demeanour suggested. He wished he had asked The Doctor how much time had elapsed since he had left his team without a word of explanation or a backward glance. He had kissed Ianto in front of everyone, effectively outing both Ianto and their relationship with one simple action, but he had not had the opportunity to speak to the young man, to reassure him that he was not a plaything but something much more important and enduring. _Please, please_ thought Jack, _let him be happy to see me._ A delighted shriek from below him let him know that someone, at least, was glad to see him back.

'Jack!' Gwen Cooper was staring upwards a look if total disbelief on her face. She was quickly joined by a broadly smiling Toshiko Sato and a highly confused looking Owen Harper. A small frown crossed Jack's face as two total strangers joined the group, both of them training their guns on Jack until Tosh gently lowered their arms with a shake of her head.

Jack bounced from the paving stone when it was still a couple of feet from the Hub floor, _showtime_, he told himself. 'Hi kids,' big smile, 'did ya miss me?'

Gwen launched herself into his arms, covering his face in kisses 'God Jack, it's so good to see you. Where the hell have you been?'

Tosh was standing beside him, stroking his arm as if she could hardly believe he was real, 'are you back to stay?' she asked softly.

Jack carefully disentangled himself from Gwen's determined embrace and pulled Tosh in for a hug, 'I'm back to stay.' He murmured into her hair, smiling as he felt her relax against him

Over Tosh's shoulder, Jack could see Owen throw him a semi-serious salute, 'Good to have you back, Captain. I'll expect you in the med bay at your earlier convenience for a full medical check.'

Jack gave a short nod; a full medical was standard procedure when an operative returned from a prolonged absence. _Must have been gone a while_, he thought to himself. He turned his attention to the two strangers who were hovering uncertainly at the edges of the reunion, he gave them the full effect of the Captain Jack Harkness smile and stuck his hand out, 'Jack Harkness' he smirked, 'and you are?'

Gwen jumped in with introductions, 'this is Susan Finlay, she's a field intelligence operative.' The plump non-descript woman gave Jack a tentative smile, Jack raised an eye-brow and Gwen clarified, 'Sue is amazing at intelligence gathering, she has informants all over the city, it makes tech retrieval much more efficient.'

Jack stepped forward and took hold of Susan's hand and placed a delicate kiss on the back of it, 'delighted to meet you' he murmured smoothly. Susan blushed and Gwen smacked Jack lightly.

'Jack, stop it,' she scolded, 'you don't change do you?'

'Stop what?' asked Jack, his face innocent, 'I was just saying hello'

'Hmm' Gwen was oozing disbelief. 'This is Steve Baxter, he...er...he...' she trailed off.

Steve stepped forward, he was tall and slim with carefully dishevelled brown hair and large soulful brown eyes that he ran up and down Jack's body as he took his hand in a warm firm clasp, 'I'm the archivist' he said, 'I also act as P.A to the Director, so I'm always in the Hub and...available' He looked up at Jack from under his long thick eye-lashes as he stroked the back of Jack's hand with his thumb.

'Archivist?' Jack frowned, 'But, what about...'

'The role of Director of Torchwood Three is complex, as I'm sure you recall' interjected Steve smoothly, as if Jack had not spoken, 'I'm here to make the Director's life easier.'

'I bet you are' Jack's dislike for the ever helpful Steve Baxter dripped from every syllable.

Jack looked at his team, Gwen had distress written all over her face, Tosh was staring at her shoes and Owen was looking anywhere but at Jack. Susan was looking uncomfortable, as if she wished she was anywhere but where she was.

'So which of you is having their lives made easier by the apparently efficient Mr Baxter?' asked Jack more harshly than he intended. 'Which of you took my job?' None of the team could meet his eye and no-one offered a response. Jack heaved a large sigh, 'never mind' he said, 'I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. For the moment it's enough that I'm back.'

With a renewed sense of homecoming he looked around the Hub, then asked the one question that he had been trying not to ask from the moment his team had gathered to welcome him

'Where's Ianto?'


	2. Chapter 2

Although Gwen had made it clear that she was more than willing to tell Jack exactly what had gone on whilst he was away, Tosh had surprisingly overruled her, dismissing Gwen and the rest of the team from the Hub with a degree of authority that Jack found amazingly sexy. It was Tosh who had led him to his old office which was, Jack was stunned to note, exactly as he had left it.

'Jack, are you OK?' Tosh asked him gently, watching him with concern as he gazed around his office, taking in the care with which his precious possessions had been preserved.

'Yeah.' Jack was running his fingers over the surface of his desk, 'It's just as I remember it' he said softly, 'it's totally unchanged.'

'Ianto wouldn't let anyone use this room' Tosh explained, 'no-one was allowed in but him and I think all he did was dust.'

'How was he' asked Jack, 'you know, when I...left'

'I won't lie to you, Jack' replied Tosh, 'for a long time after you disappeared he was in a real mess. Owen was very, very worried about him.'

'Owen was?' Jack managed a weak smile, 'he must have been really bad.'

Tosh gave him a sombre look, 'he was'

'Tell me. Please'

Tosh looked uncomfortable, 'you really need to talk to Ianto' she said quietly, 'but I can tell you he had...health issues, then UNIT found out you were gone, thanks to blabber mouth Cooper, and came in to "help", ' Tosh made sarcastic air quotes with her fingers, before continuing, ' that stressed him even more. He sorted himself out in the end but, Jack, you must talk to him as soon as you can.'

'Do you think he will want to talk to me?' said Jack in a small voice

Tosh pulled him into a loose hug, she had already noted how Jack flinched when held too tight and she wondered what had happened to him whilst away from them, 'Things are extremely complicated, Jack – you have a lot of work to do, a lot of things to make up for.' She placed a light kiss on his cheek and moved away from him, giving him space. 'I'll see you in the morning, OK'

Jack managed a smile, 'Thank you, Tosh, you have always been a good friend.'

'It's wonderful to have you back, Jack. Goodnight'

* * *

Left alone in the Hub, Jack sat behind his desk with his head in his hands, trying to assimilate what Tosh had told him. He couldn't think, couldn't organise his chaotic thoughts, he was lost and floundering. The only thing he knew for sure was that he had to see Ianto. It was an overwhelming need, a desperation that took him back to the worst of his experiences on The Valiant. Jack opened one of the drawers and fumbled around until his questing hand encountered a tin box; he pulled it out and opened it up. With shaking fingers he lifted out the photograph which lay on the top of the box's contents. It showed Ianto sprawled in a post-coital doze across Jack's bed, his skin was glowing in the low light and the soft satisfied smile on his lips only served to highlight how young he was.

'Oh Yan' Jack stroked the image before putting his head down on the desk and giving way to despair. After a few minutes, Jack raised his head and roughly dragged an arm over his eyes. _C'mon Harkness_ he told himself sternly, _you didn't survive that year to be beaten by this minor setback_. He sat up straighter and gritted his teeth, _I have to see him_, he thought_, once I have reassured myself he is OK I will be able to think clearer_. He logged into Mainframe, smiling to see that Tosh had preserved his passwords and access codes. He pulled up the archive database, impressed at how it had been developed in his absence, and then a slow smile spread across his face – that particular item was exactly what he needed.

* * *

A few hours later, Jack was carefully and quietly letting himself into Ianto's house. Dressed in black and with rubber soled baseball boots on his feet, he moved like a corporeal shadow up the stairs, smiling in self-congratulation when he remembered that the fourth stair up squeaked loudly when stepped on. He had liberated a personal clocking device for reasons he didn't want to think about too much – he wanted to see Ianto without being seen – but he could still be heard if he made too much noise. It had taken all of his self control to wait until two in the morning before making his way to Ianto's home.

Heart pounding Jack made his way into the master bedroom. The curtains were pulled back and the room was full of silver moonlight. Ianto was asleep on his side, facing the window, he had thrown the duvet off and it was piled in the lump in the middle of the bed. Jack smiled, this, at least was familiar to him,_ he still gets too hot in bed_, he moved to the window, drinking in the sight of his young lover. _Gods, I missed him so much_, thought Jack, as tears prickled behind his eyes, _he is so very beautiful_ _and he is here and he is safe._ Slowly he lowered himself into the chair adjacent to the window, he remembered that Ianto had bought it for the nights that Jack found it hard to sleep but did not want to leave his lover's side to return to the loneliness of The Hub. 'You can sit here and read or watch a movie' Ianto had told him with an affectionate smile, 'I can get some sleep without you wriggling around every five seconds and you will be here when I wake up.' _He was always thinking of me_ Jack told himself, _he was always looking out for me, how did I not see how much he loved me?_

He couldn't tear his eyes off the gorgeous sight before him; Ianto still slept naked, Jack was relieved to note, taking a risk and running a gentle reminiscent finger down the length of Ianto's long flaccid member.

He froze as Ianto murmured incoherently, eyes moving rapidly behind closed lids before relaxing back into sleep. A wicked little smile crawled across Jack's face and he shuffled closer to the bed and stroked Ianto more firmly. Ianto rolled onto his back as his cock began to fill under Jack's tender manipulations.

Jack was about to remove his cloaking device and waken his lover with a passionate kiss when there was an upheaval under the piled up duvet, a slim hand emerged and, brushing Jack's hand aside began wanking Ianto into wakefulness. Jack snatched his hand away as if he had been burned_; he has someone with him_ he thought dispiritedly, _he has moved on from me_. He sat back in the chair, he wanted desperately to leave but he seemed unable to move. Whoever it was under the bedding was reluctant to leave their cocoon, seeming content to draw out the most delicious groans and moans from Ianto. Almost against his will Jack could feel himself getting hard, that pearlescent pre-come sliding from the flushed head of Ianto's penis, those noises, the small whimpers of pleasure were reverberating with the memories Jack had tried so hard to hold on to during his imprisonment on the Valiant. Semi-awake now, Ianto slid one of his hands under the bunched up quilt, eliciting a shrill cry of arousal from the person who was pleasuring him. Jack held his breath, but Ianto and his unknown partner appeared content with their slow and mutual masturbation.

It was no use, it wasn't in Jack to resist, leaning further back he undid his flies and freed his aching cock, this wasn't quite the reunion he had anticipated but it had been so long since he had felt even the slightest stirrings of desire, thanks to the attentions of The Master, that he rejoiced even as he ran the tips of his fingers across the slit of his penis. He kept his eyes on Ianto's hand moving strongly under the duvet, taking his stroke from his lover until the low coiling itch in his belly told him he wouldn't last much longer. Biting his lip to stifle his own moans, Jack kept his eyes glued to Ianto and the two of them came together, spurting into their own fists. Just as Jack was trembling through the aftershock of an intense orgasm, Ianto slow turned his head on the pillow to, apparently, stare straight into Jack's eyes.

'I still miss you Jack' he whispered

* * *

Sitting in the SUV around the corner from Ianto's home with his head resting on the steering wheel; Jack had no clear recollection of how he came to be there. Back in Ianto's bedroom, for a split second, Jack had thought that the cloaking device had failed and that Ianto really saw him until he noticed the single tear slowly making its way down the side of the young man's sweet face. Ianto had swiftly brushed it away, composed himself and then had dived under the duvet, drawing a loud squeal of delight from whoever was under there.

Jack gently banged his head upon the steering wheel. _He misses me_ he thought, relishing the small glow of comfort the thought gave him then his spirits plummeted once more, _but he has someone else in his bed, someone who obviously knows how to touch him the way I do. How long did it take for him to replace me? Is this what Tosh meant when she said that things were complicated?_

Jack leant back and angrily wiped his stinging eyes, his head felt woolly and his thoughts were befuddled and directionless. He felt like he was a million miles removed from the old Jack Harkness, the man who would know what to in any situation, who was flirtatious and sexy, decisive and strong. He hated feeling so adrift and he cursed The Master for forcing him to become this pitiful copy of the man he used to be and The Doctor for not recognising how not OK he really was.

Making a huge effort Jack tried to focus his thinking, there were so many questions he needed answers to but there was one important thing that he had to know right now. Fumbling in his coat pocket, Jack pulled out his mobile and dialled the one person who seemed to be at least attempting to understand how he was feeling without judging him.

'Jack?' Tosh's soft, sleepy voice was saturated with worry and concern

'Tosh,' Jack launched into his interrogation without preamble, 'it was just over a year for me, how long was it for you guys?'

'Jack...'

'How long, Tosh? Please, I need to know'

Tosh sighed heavily and her response sent Jack's phone clattering from his nerveless fingers to be lost on the floor of the car.

'Jack...I'm so sorry but...on our timeline you have been missing for four years.'


	3. Chapter 3

Owen and Tosh walked into The Hub the next morning with identical expressions of concern on their faces. They looked worriedly around before Owen gave Tosh a small nudge with his elbow and nodded towards the large sofa underneath the Torchwood sign. Two large feet were resting on the arm and a soft snoring could be heard. Tosh and Owen stood at the foot of the sofa looking down at Jack.

Tosh sighed, 'he looks just the same as he did when we last saw him but he's so...damaged'

Owen nodded, 'I'm gonna do his physical first thing this morning, maybe try to get him to talk to me about where he has been and what has been done to him'

Tosh frowned, 'done to him?'

'Yeah, I volunteered with Freedom from Torture a couple of years just after I finished medical school, they're a medical charity which supports and cares for victims of persecution. There's a look in Jack's eyes that is very familiar to me, loud noises startle him and he doesn't like being held tightly.' Tosh nodded, she had noticed that the previous evening, Owen continued, 'wherever Jack has been, he hasn't been having a good time, I'm sure of it.'

Jack began to whimper in his sleep and Tosh ran a comforting hand through his sweat soaked hair, she looked over at Owen, 'do what you can for him' she said tearfully, 'do your very best.'

Owen pulled her close and planted a soft kiss in her hair, 'hey, it's Jack' he said, 'I'll do more than my very best for him.'

* * *

By the time Gwen arrived, Jack was reacquainting himself with the shower facilities attached to his under office bunker and Susan was immersed in reviewing the previous night's CCTV footage. Gwen looked over Susan's shoulder

'Checking up on our errant Captain?' she asked.

'Not really' replied Susan shortly, 'Dr Harper asked me to log the SUVs movements last night to check on our upgraded tracking software.'

'OWEN asked you to?' Gwen frowned, that didn't add up. Susan shrugged her attention focused on her computer screen. Gwen leant over her shoulder for a closer look, 'isn't that near Ianto's house'

Susan blanked her screen, 'don't you have work of you own to do?' she enquired icily

Gwen pulled a chair up to the work station, for the first time she was regretting not making more of an effort to get to know the older woman, 'what's going on, Sue?' she asked putting a friendly hand on the other woman's arm.

Susan Finlay shook her off coldly, 'My name is Susan or Ms Finlay' she informed Gwen coldly, 'and I don't discuss my work assignments with field grunts'

Gwen leapt to her feet her face red, 'who the FUCK do you think you are talking to?' she shrieked but she was interrupted by Tosh why had come up behind her.

'Gwen' Tosh's voice was quiet but authoritative, 'I think it would be a good idea if you went and got us all some breakfast, don't you?'

Mutinously Gwen picked up her Jacket and headed towards the door, Tosh called out after her, 'Oh, Gwen?' Gwen turned, 'don't rush back' instructed Tosh, 'take an hour or so.'

'Whatever' snarked Gwen

Tosh smiled at Susan, who had been quietly carrying on with her work, ignoring the dispute going on behind her, 'field grunts?'

Susan looked unabashed, 'sorry but she really winds me up with her superior and patronising attitude, besides it took her mind off nosy-parkering about what I was doing, didn't it?.'

'Susan Finlay, you are a devious woman,' laughed Tosh, 'now then, what have you got for me?'

'He spent a long time in his old office,' stated Susan, scrolling through the CCTV as she spoke, 'then he went down to the archive and took a personal cloaking device. He took the SUV and drove it to Mr Jones house in Sully. He went inside and was there for just over an hour before he came out.'

Tosh looked puzzled, 'how did he know Ianto still lived there?'

Susan shrugged, 'when he arrived last night, I notice he didn't ask us how long he had been gone.'

Tosh hmm'd agreement, 'he didn't know. He rang me at about three o'clock this morning to ask me.'

'Well, then, since you tell me he was travelling in space and time with The Doctor maybe it was less time for him and so he just assumed that Mr Jones was still there,' suggested Susan, 'but if you ask me I don't think he was thinking that clearly at all, I think he was just desperately seeking comfort from the last place he got it.'

Tosh took a step back and looked searchingly at the older woman, 'you see a lot, don't you Susan?'

Susan smiled, 'it's my job. So is keeping quiet about the things I see'

'Good.' Replied Tosh, 'because this is need-to-know only and only you, me and Owen need to know at this point, understood?'

'Of course, Ma'am'

Tosh grinned, 'what else can you tell me?'

'After he left Mr. Jones' house, he sat in the SUV for a further three hours before returning here. He spent thirty minutes in his office then came out here and drank three bottles of malt whisky until he passed out.'

'I was afraid of this' muttered Tosh, 'OK. Thank you Susan – could you...'

'I've already spliced doctored footage into the CCTV archives,' said Susan with a smile. She pulled a data stick from her PC and handed it to Tosh, 'this is the only copy'

Tosh moved quickly away as Jack came out of his office looking considerably better than he had two hours previously. He grinned at the two women staring at him

'Morning ladies; what's going on?'

Tosh spoke up, 'Susan is running a review of her listening posts, I have a date with some system diagnostics, Gwenn is out sourcing breakfast and I believe Owen had a medical with your name on it Jack'

Owen emerged from the med bay and waved an alarming looking piece of equipment in Jack's direction, 'c'mon Captain, get a move on and I might even warm my hands.'

Throwing a grimace to the two women Jack followed Owen down into the medical bay.

* * *

To Jack's surprise, Owen led him down a corridor he didn't recognise and into a spacious office which was furnished with soft and comfortable looking chairs and sofas. Owen gestured vaguely, 'take a seat Jack.'

Jack looked around, 'have you redecorated in here?'

Owen merely looked at him and pointed to a chair

Jack lowered himself down cautiously, 'Owen?'

Owen sat down opposite him, 'we both know that there is not much point doing a medical on you. You reset to a healthy norm every time you die and I'm thinking that you have died a lot recently Jack. Am I wrong?'

Jack had his head lowered and was staring at his hands; Owen let the silence drag out until Jack gave a tiny shake of his head.

'Jack you need to know that this is a safe space, OK? Anything you tell me in this room stays in this room. I don't share it with anyone, not UNIT, not the team, not the Director – got that?' He paused but Jack kept his head down. Owen sighed, 'don't want to talk to me eh? I understand that. So I'll tell you what I think and you can stop me if I get it wrong, how about that?'

Jack raised his head and met Owen's eyes, the pain and terror fleetingly visible in his face almost stopped Owens heart. He managed a shaky smile and continued, 'I think you found your Doctor but he wasn't sympathetic. I don't know what happened but I'm guessing that for a significant period of time you have been subjected to torture. I think this torture was prolonged and sadistic and I'm guessing that you died...a lot'

'Everyday, at least twice a day for a year' whispered Jack so quietly that Owen barely heard him

Owen closed his eyes; he knew maintaining a calm demeanour was vital but the urge to scream and throw things was hard to control. 'Who? Why?' he asked gently

'He called himself Harold Saxon but he was really a rogue Time Lord called The Master' said Jack tiredly, 'as to why...because he could, because he thought it was funny.'

Owen had many questions but he knew this was not the time to ask them, 'Right' he said, 'so what can I do to help you? What can I tell you that will make this easier for you? I expect that you are feeling a bit lost, maybe finding it hard to concentrate?'

'Yeah' Jack admitted softly, he tapped the side of his head with hard fingers, 'it's all a muddle in here. I've lost my focus, my edge. How did you know?'

Owe smiled a little sadly, 'My Captain would have swept back into The Hub, flamboyant and unapologetic, firing questions at everyone,wanting to know what he had missed.' Jack flinched he had quickly learnt on The Valiant that asking questions, even rhetorical ones led to having his tongue ripped out with barbed tongs and all his teeth broken with a hammer. Owen didn't miss Jack's hastily repressed shudder but he carried on bravely, 'my Captain would have had the teaboy back in his bed and screaming his name in two seconds flat; my Captain would not have waited eight hours or more before thinking to ask how long he had been gone in our timeline.'

Jack frowned, 'how did you...'

Owen held up his left hand so that Jack could see the thick gold band on his third finger, 'Tosh and I have been married for two years now. I was lying next to her when you called her at 3.30 this morning. My Captain would have noticed that too.'

'I know' said Jack miserably, 'I know what I have to do but I can't...I can't act. Any independent action or thought from me just meant pain and death. I know it's over, in fact it never happened but I remember; it's all still in my head and I hate being like this, Owen. I hate it!'

Owen nodded, 'We can work on that together but...Jack, you know I can't clear you for field work whilst you are clearly suffering from PTSD. '

Jack looked around wildly, 'Owen I need to work! With...without Ianto it's all I have to keep me grounded. I need something to focus me. Please...I...please...'

Owen frowned, he wasn't about to walk deep into the Ianto minefield although he wondered what made Jack so certain that he no longer had Ianto in his life. 'I can approve you to be Hub based for the next eight weeks; I assume you plan to take back the Directorship?' Jack nodded, 'well then, given how long you were missing on our time line an eight week handover does not seem inappropriate but I will want to see you three times a week to check on how you are coping, OK, Jack?'

The grateful look that Jack gave Owen just reinforced to the medic how damaged Jack was. Owen cleared his throat uncomfortably, 'have you spoken to Ianto?' he asked diffidently and against his better judgement.

Jack shook his head, 'I've seen him but he doesn't know I'm back.'

'Yeah, Tosh told me about the personal cloaking device. Jack you need to see him, talk to him'

'I'll do it as soon as he gets in' Jack said reassuringly

'but, Jack, Ianto...' Owen was interrupted by the buzzing of the intercom. He pressed the button and Steve Baxter's unctuous tones filtered through the speaker

'Dr. Harper, is Captain Harkness with you?'

Jack spoke up and, Owen thought, you would never know from his commanding tone how close he had been to melt down only a few minutes earlier, 'Yes I'm here. What is it Baxter?'

'Captain, Director Jones has just arrived, I thought you would like to know, Sir'

'Good,' snapped Jack, 'tell the Director, my office in ten minutes'

'Very good, Sir'

Jack got to his feet and looked at Owen, 'Thank you Owen,' he said sincerely, 'I know I'm gonna need your help but right now I have a date with Director Jones.' And he gave Owen a grin and a wink as he sprinted towards the door, leaving a very worried Owen Harper behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack prowled nervously in his office. What on earth had possessed him to say ten minutes? Well, he knew why he had said it; he wanted Ianto to think about the first time they had been together, when Ianto had initiated stopwatch fun and games, he wanted Ianto to be thinking about how they had been together as he walked in. But now he was impatient, he wanted to see Ianto _**now**_ and each minute he was kept waiting felt like an hour.

There was a soft tap on the door and Jack felt his pulse rate accelerate. Striving for calm he leant back against his desk crossed his legs at the ankles and purred, 'come in' before feeling the pose was too false and hastily standing up. His world tilted as a slim and well dressed figure entered the room and advanced towards him, hand outstretched. Jack knew he was staring, mouth open but he couldn't help himself

The tall, dark skinned woman paused in confusion, 'Captain Harkness? Is everything alright?'

Jack made a massive effort to pull himself together; he pasted a flirtatious smile on his face and moved forward to take the woman's hand.

'Director Jones, I assume?'

The women smiled, 'please, call me Lisa.'

Jack waved Lisa to a chair, 'I apologise for staring, Baxter said "Director Jones" and I was...kinda expecting someone else.'

Lisa sat with a cool elegance that seemed a characteristic mannerism of hers, 'it's not exactly an uncommon name in Wales,' she pointed out

Jack gave a self-conscious smile, 'no, huh, guess not.'

Lisa laughed and leant towards Jack in a confiding fashion, 'I'll let you in on a secret,' she lowered her voice to a whisper, 'I'm not a natural Jones. When we decided to get married we tried double-barrelling our names but Hallet-Jones, Jones-Hallett didn't feel right so we went old school and I became plain old Mrs. Ianto. Jones.' She leant back in her seat, her eyes fixed on Jack's face

Jack felt as though his heart was being ripped out through his chest, 'you...you're married to Ianto Jones?' he stammered

'Yeah,' Lisa raised a confused eyebrow, 'did nobody tell you?'

Jack dropped his gaze, 'I didn't think to ask' he said sadly

'Well, um, we have been together just over three years' said Lisa, 'and we got married just after Tosh and Owen.'

Jack straightened up, 'Irrelevant and not really my business' he said briskly, 'we need to discuss the future'

'Indeed' Lisa agreed smoothly, 'I assume you plan to resume the Directorship of Torchwood Three.'

Jack looked at her challengingly, 'I do' he asserted, 'is that a problem for you?'

'Not at all' said Lisa, 'it was made clear to me that this was only a temporary assignment when I took the secondment from my UNIT posting, although I didn't expect temporary to mean nearly four years. However, meeting up with Ianto again was an unexpected bonus – we knew each other when we both worked at Torchwood One, we even went on a couple of dates back then. He looked after me when I moved here, we picked up from where we left off in London and then...' she gave a tinkling laugh,'...well, here we are as you say'

Jack had never wanted to hit a woman so much in his entire life. He was sure that she was aware of his history with Ianto and was taunting him with her relationship. Underneath the desktop he clenched his fists, using the pain as he dug his fingernails into the soft skin of his palms to attempt to control his more violent emotions. He took a deep breath, 'must have been difficult for you though?' he enquired, 'new job, being the big boss and married to one of your staff.'

'Tosh and Owen manage alright,' pointed out Lisa, 'why would you assume that Ianto and I would struggle.'

'Tosh and Owen are colleagues' said Jack, 'neither is responsible for managing the other.'

Lisa's icy facade began to crack, 'how did you manage, Captain Harkness,' she asked spitefully, 'weren't you fucking him on a regular basis before your disappearance.'

'That's none of your business' snapped Jack

'And how Ianto and I conduct our relationship is none of yours,' shot back Lisa.

'You're right' said Jack stiffly.

'Anyway,' continued Lisa, 'not long after we got together, Ianto decided to take up a liaison post in the City Council offices.'

Jack felt sick, 'So, Ianto doesn't work here in the Hub anymore?'

'Not for three years or more' said Lisa smugly, 'one of us had to have regular hours to be available for Carwyn and it made sense for it to be Ianto.'

'Carwyn?'

'Our little boy'

'A child, I see. Congratulations' Jack schooled his face into a neutral expression, hiding the gut wrenching agony that Lisa's careless revelation had incurred in him. One of the fantasies that he had used to sustain himself between torture sessions on The Valiant was of settling down with Ianto and maybe having a family with him. The thought that Ianto had started a family with someone other than him tore him up inside. 'Anyway' he continued, 'let's focus on how we are going to manage the transition of authority.' He turned away to seat himself behind his desk but his didn't miss the small smile of triumph that flitted across Lisa's smooth features.

* * *

Some hours later, Lisa was taking her leave of Jack. Over breakfast provide by a sullen Gwen, they had drawn up a transition schedule and filed the appropriate paperwork reinstating Jack as official leader and Lisa had squirmed uncomfortably whilst Jack had an innuendo strewn twenty-minute conversation with the Queen. Tosh had formally restored Jack's computer privileges. The atmosphere in Jack's office had remained frosty and unfriendly; both were relieved when Lisa stood up to head back to her own office to start collating the reports required to bring Jack up to speed. Their attention was caught by the sound of the klaxon announcing the opening of the cog wheel door and Jack felt his breathing hitch as Ianto Jones walked into the Hub.

Jack moved to the window his eyes glued to Ianto, _I had almost forgotten how graceful he is_ thought Jack as he watched the young man negotiate his way across the Hub, ignoring the greetings of his co-workers, as he headed towards the stairs leading to Jack's office. Lisa pushed past Jack and walked out of the office to meet her husband.

'Darling' she trilled, as she slid her arms round Ianto's waist and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Jack swallowed the bile that rose in his throat; _get your fucking hands off him_, he shrieked silently he's_ mine, he should be with me. _With burning eyes, Jack watched as Ianto gently disentangled himself from Lisa's embrace, said a few words to her in low voice and then moved around her to continue up to where Jack was waiting for him.

Ianto walked straight into Jack's office without knocking, his resolve almost failed him when he was confronted by a broken looking Jack Harkness standing helplessly him the middle of the room but then he thought of how miserable and scared and confused and broken he had been when Jack had disappeared and a torrent of cold fury ran through him. He stopped a few feet away from Jack and surveyed him with bitter eyes.

'So, you're back then?' he enquired

Jack took a step towards him, 'yeah...Ianto, I...'

'And you were going to tell me, when?'

'I...I..'

'Four years, Jack' Ianto suddenly shouted making Jack take a startled step backwards, 'four years of worrying if you were OK. Four years of feeling like fucking shit because I wasn't good enough to keep you here, four years of so much pain in here,' he thumped himself, hard, in the chest, 'because when you ran away from me you broke my fucking heart Jack, you left me in pieces, you destroyed me and left me less of a man.' Jack looked devastated and tried to take Ianto into his arms, but Ianto was having none of it. He stepped backwards and shoved Jack away. 'And then, when you do decide to swan back in to our lives' Ianto continued, 'I'm not even on the list people that you want to tell. I had to hear that you were back from Gwen bloody Cooper. You know how insecure I used to be about you and her and you can imagine just how delighted she was to be the bearer of the glad tidings.' He gave a harsh laugh and ran his fingers through his hair, 'God, I used to drive myself mad agonising over what you thought of me, wondering if I meant anything to you, whether you loved me even a little bit and now I know don't I? I was nothing to you, you left me without a word and you couldn't even be bothered to tell me when you returned. I was just a nameless fuck hole, one of thousands, unworthy of even the smallest consideration.' Ianto sniffed and rolled his red rimmed eyes, 'God, all that wasted time' and he turned to walk away.

For a split second Jack stood, stunned at the vehement vitriol Ianto had spewed at him then, with a vicious surge of joy he became angry. After a whole year of pain and terror he did not think he would ever feel empowered enough to get angry again; first lust and now anger, all because of Ianto Jones. He surged forward and grabbed Ianto by the upper arm swinging the surprised man round to face him. 'Oh no you don't' snapped Jack, 'you don't get to take all the moral high ground, here. You don't get to lay all that guilt inducing crap on me – I know about Carwyn.

Ianto paled and became very still. 'How...how did you find out about him?' he whispered

'Your lovely wife told me,' snarled Jack, 'she took great pleasure in telling me that you decided to work as liaison with the City Council so that you could be there for your son. She also told me he was just turned three so I guess all this heartbreak you described so eloquently lasted...what...three, four months?'

Ianto seemed to be having difficulty getting his words out, 'Carwyn is almost three and a half'

Jack managed to snort a sarcastic laugh, 'didn't take you long to start fucking your ex-girlfriend, did it? All that pain, all that angst – ploughing into that fertile wet cunt helped take your mind of things, did it?

Ianto's face became blank and mask like, he shook himself free of Jack's bruising grip, 'Stay away from my son,' he said fiercely, 'in fact stay away from all of us. I've had four years without you in my life and I'm not the needy little fucktoy you remember. Carwyn is a very special little boy and I have had to find strength for him. So I'm only gonna say this once, stay out of my life; I don't care if I never see your face again.' He turned his back on Jack and began stalking out of the office.

Jack's gut spasmed with terror, 'I was gone for a year' he said so quietly that Ianto had to stop ti hear him, 'I was tortured to death day after day. The Doctor bought me back and messed up by bringing me back four years late.'

Ianto kept his back to Jack but repeated 'Tortured?'

'Yeah' said Jack softly, 'whatever bad things you wished on me for deserting you probably happened to me and I can see that I deserved them'

Ianto turned to face Jack, tears were pouring down his face, 'I never wanted bad things to happen to you...I just wanted you to come back to me.'

Jack gave a repressed sob, 'in your arms was the only place in the universe I wanted to be.' And then they were in each other's arms, their combined tears fizzing on Jack's tongue like the finest champagne

'I love you' whispered Jack

'And I love you' said Ianto, 'but I have responsibilities now Jack, everything has changed. I will love you as long as there is breath in my body but I can never see you again.'

'Yan'

'No, it hurts too much, Jack. Please, if you love me as you say, stay away from me and my family'

With one last desperate kiss, Ianto thrust Jack from him and almost ran from his office. Trying to control his emotions Jack watched as Ianto strode through the Hub, pausing at Gwen's desk to snarl something inaudible but clearly vicious before leaving.

Jack rested his head in the cool glass of the window and watched his reason for living walk away from him forever.


	5. Chapter 5

**Three weeks later**

Jack was working diligently in his office; he was gradually beginning to feel like he was getting a grip on things, which was useful because ex-Director now Assistant Director Lisa Jones was avoiding him as much as she possibly could and any help she provided was sullen and grudging. Jack knew, because he had hacked her e-mails, that she had contacted UNIT H.Q. requesting reassignment; he wondered what Ianto would say if he knew that Lisa had specified a transfer to America to work in a high level position within the NSA. He also wondered if she planned to take Steve Baxter with her since Jack was sure that the two of them were fucking. More than once Jack had recognised the unmistakeable smell of sex in various places around the Hub when everyone else had been out in the field.

He had deliberated long and hard about whether he should tell Ianto what his wife was up to but realised that would only make thing between Ianto and himself worse. Unfortunately, although Ianto had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Jack; they still had to speak to each other on Torchwood business on an almost daily basis. It was killing both of them to maintain an icy, business like facade. Once when they were speaking Jack had heard a child calling in the background but when Jack had asked if it was Carwyn, Ianto had bought the call to an end. Every time they spoke Jack became sadder, Ianto became more distant and Lisa more smug

Apart from missing Ianto which was a deep and constant ache, the dynamic of the Hub was dramatically changed for how Jack remembered it and it was taking him a while to acclimatise. The only unchanged person seemed to be Tosh, still self-deprecating, still brilliant, still uncompromisingly loyal to and supportive of Jack. Owen, Jack mused had changed for the better, still a brilliant doctor, he was less cruel and less judgemental; there was a placid calmness in his eyes that, Jack suspected, had been put there by Tosh. He smiled; Owen and Tosh's mutual delight in each other was the one comforting thing he had found since his return, in fact he found himself spending more and more time with them outside of Torchwood. Gwen, on the other hand, he avoided as often as he could, restricting his interactions with her to formal team meetings and conversations in the central Hub – places where there were witnesses since the speculative and licentious gleam in her eye whenever she looked at him made Jack's skin crawl. On more than one occasion Jack had been forced to flee to the sanctuary of Owen's office when Gwen's increasingly lewd comments and "accidental" groping had given him a flashback to The Master's rape parties on The Valiant, leaving him shaking and sick. A soft knock on his door dragged Jack back to the present.

'Come in' Jack raised an eyebrow as Tosh and Susan entered together. He realised that when he had been contemplating his team, Susan Finlay had completely slipped his mind – the woman was virtually invisible. Jack knew she would take that as a compliment; he smiled at the two serious looking women standing before his desk.

'Ladies'

Tosh spoke up, 'Jack we think we have a security breach'

'What?'

Tosh and Susan sat down, exchanged glances and then Tosh leant forward speaking in a low tone. 'I was doing a standard security audit the other day and I found a discrepancy in the archives database. A number of artefacts that I knew for a fact we had in storage don't show up on the database, in fact, as far as our records go there, is no indication that we ever retrieved them.'

Jack frowned, 'what sort of artefacts' he asked

Tosh didn't reply but, instead, glanced over at Susan who took up the narrative. 'At the same time,' she said, 'I started to hear a lot of chatter from the groups I monitor about a "special service" being offered by a new fixer organisation. No-one seemed to know who these people were but the rumours were that they cost an absolute fortune to hire but they were worth every penny. They started being noticed when the graffiti tag Cro.O kept cropping up at crime scenes, on the walls of burnt out nightclubs which were fronts for criminal activity, then once or twice, carved into the chests of a couple of double crossing drug dealers,' she dug through the folder she was holding and pushed a photograph of a bloody crime scene across to Jack, tapping the colourful tag caught by flash with her fingernail, 'it wasn't long before the Cro.O were seen as the go to people for local crime gangs. There was no job too big, no job too small for them. Drugs moved, dissenters tortured into compliance, people murdered neatly and cleanly with no incriminating evidence left behind, money laundered, they was nothing they didn't handle for the right price. The word on the streets was if you could afford the services of the Cro.O all you needed to do was sit back and wait for your money or your drugs or the video of the torture or murder you had ordered to be delivered to you. The important thing was not to ask questions, people who did disappeared as quickly and completely as their enemies.'

Tosh broke in, 'the equipment missing from the archive database is mostly weapons, quite a lot of disintegrator gun as it happens which...'

Susan finished Tosh's sentence for her '...which would explain why the victims of the Cro.O have never been found.'

Jack frowned, 'so you think this Cro.O is sourcing it's weaponry from us? Someone on the team is selling alien equipment to organised crime?'

'Yes' said Tosh at exactly the same time as Susan said, 'No'

Jack raised an exasperated eyebrow, 'well, which it is?'

With a "you go ahead" wave of her hand, Tosh indicated Susan should explain. Susan took a breath, 'A number of things point to the Cro.O being run from within Torchwood itself. We are not looking at an outside group working with us we are talking about one or, more likely, two rogue agents laundering money and murdering their way through the Cardiff underworld such as it is. My contacts told me there were around fifteen small to medium sized criminal factions operating in the City as recently as eighteen months ago when the Cro.O began their operations, now there are only five and Bill Edwards, leader of the biggest remaining gang in the city has not been seen since last Thursday.'

Jack shrugged, 'that's hardly conclusive' he said, 'he could be on holiday, away on business, helping the police with their enquiries, anything'

Susan shook her head, 'his only daughter upon whom he dotes was supposed to get married last Saturday, no way would he miss that. I also hear that his second in command fled the city last night. I'm thinking that Bill Edwards has been removed by the Cro.O and they are one step closer to taking over all the criminal activity in Cardiff'

Jack found himself being convinced by Susan's measured delivery, 'Ok I'll admit that one, what else have you got?'

'Only one person could ensure that artefacts were not logged in the archives – Steve Baxter but the efficiency of the murders and the ferocity of some of the non-lethal attacks suggest they were carried out by a field trained operative and that's not Baxter.'

Jack was way ahead of her, 'Lisa Jones?'

Both Susan and Tosh nodded, 'no way Baxter could divert equipment from the archives, especially the secure archives, without her knowledge' said Susan levelly, 'plus with a little digging I found that one of the reasons she came to Cardiff as Director was because she was being transferred, against her will I might add, out of active field work. She was beginning to be seen as a liability in the field, out of control and overly violent were some of the phrases used in her commanding officers report.'

Jack felt a coil of anger growing in his gut, 'so you are telling me that Lisa Jones and Steven Baxter are this Cro.O... group, gang, faction, whatever and they are using our kit to take over all of the criminal activity in Cardiff? For what purpose?'

Tosh broke in, 'I hacked Lisa's private Swiss account, not the standard joint checking account she shares with Ianto but...'

Jack went cold, 'Christ Ianto! Does he know? Is he involved in this?'

Tosh reached across the table and took hold of Jack's hand, squeezing it reassuringly, 'no, he knows nothing of this, Jack. I am absolutely sure of it. He doesn't know that Lisa is shagging Steven Baxter behind his back and he definitely doesn't know that she has accrued £75 million in a numbered Swiss account over the last eighteen months.'

Jack swallowed, 'well that seems pretty convincing but we still need to find some substantial proof, proof we could put before the Heddlu, or even better UNIT'

'We will' said Tosh with certainty, 'now Susan and I are working together I say we give them both enough space and sooner or later they will incriminate themselves, especially when they find their deadly activities are not turning out as successful as they have in the recent past. Their arrogance will be their own undoing. It was that arrogance that bought them to my attention in the first place.'

Jack was looking at the photo of the Cro.O graffiti. 'What is this?' he mused, 'Cro point zero? What's it mean?'

Susan chuckled, 'it's what convinced me that Lisa was involved, she's is such a crossword fiend.'

Both Jack and Tosh looked at her, puzzled, 'I don't understand' admitted Tosh

'Come on' smiled Susan, 'you have seen what a whizz she is. She was boasting the other day that her fastest time was five minutes forty five seconds, only sixteen seconds slower than the world champion. She was telling us that anagrams are her speciality'

Jack frowned, 'I'm not following' he admitted

Susan picked up a pen from Jack's desk and gabbed a piece of paper from his bin, ' You are looking at it as text, ' she said writing down the graffiti words Cro.O, 'but if you write it out exactly as it sounds it might look like this' and she wrote down the words "Crow Dot Oh"

So?' asked Jack.

'So, Crow Dot Oh is an anagram of "Torchwood"


	6. Chapter 6

**Two days later**

Ianto kept his eyes firmly upon the agenda on his laptop; he was feeling incredibly uncomfortable. _What the hell was he thinking_ he asked himself _how could he do this to me_? Until now Jack had respected Ianto's insistences that he stay away from him. He and Jack had just about managed to reach an adequate, telephone based working relationship which was painfully correct and business like but now Jack had announced, with no previous warning to Ianto, that he would be taking Lisa's place on the fortnightly liaison committee meetings. He had spun some story about needing to attend the meetings to help him re-establish his leadership of Torchwood Three but Ianto was unconvinced; he knew how much Jack loathed any sort of bureaucratic process, the Jack Harkness that he loved...that he knew... would have gladly walked naked and unarmed into a nest of weevils rather than attend a council meeting.

Ianto raised his eyes and risked a glance at Jack; he had told himself that he would allow himself to look at Jack no more than five times over the course of the morning. Jack was deep in conversation with Steven Baxter, the man Lisa had bought in to do Ianto's job in the Hub; Baxter put his hand on Jack's arm and leant in close to him, whispering something that made Jack laugh out loud. Under the table Ianto clenched his fist and fantasised about leaping over the massive mahogany boardroom table and punching Baxter in his smug face.

Jack stifled a yawn, _sweet goddesses would this bloody meeting never end_? He had been staring so hard at the report in front of him his eyes were dry and gritty,and his jaw ached from swallowing his yawns he squeezed his eyes tight shut and then opened them to find Ianto Jones staring at him with a look of complete understanding and empathy on his face. Jack couldn't help himself, he grinned affectionately at Ianto, his heart swelling with emotion when Ianto returned the grin. For a number of breathless seconds the two men gazed at each other, then Ianto dropped his eyes back to his computer screen. Jack was vaguely aware that the meeting was winding up; Baxter was gathering up his tablet and filing the supplementary papers that had been tabled, he turned to Jack.

'Sir?' he enquired, 'are you ready to return to base?'

Ianto was watching the two men carefully and did not miss the shiver of distaste that Jack gave when Baxter called him, "Sir," some evil impulse prompted him to say, 'Captain Harkness, I have some additional spreadsheets charting rift activity for the time you were away that may be of interest to you. If you can spare the time to accompany me to my office, I'll see if I can find them for you, Sir.' He deliberately deepened his voice, emphasising his vowels and noted with a stab of satisfaction the flare of lust in Jack's eyes. Steve Baxter noticed it too and moved closer to Jack, loitering possessively in his personal space.

'Captain' he tried again, 'you have a conference call with UNIT at 1.30'

Jack moved away from him, his eyes still fixed on Ianto. 'Lisa can handle it' he said

Baxter wasn't about to give up, Lisa had told him to keep Jack and Ianto apart at all costs, 'Sir, Assistant Director Jones is in London today.'

'Tosh then' snapped Jack, 'or Owen, I don't care! Mr Jones, here, has been good enough to find some information that will be useful to me and I am going to review it with him. Take the SUV and head back to base, Baxter. I'll be along when I'm done here.' He turned to face Ianto and gestured towards the door, 'Mr Jones, shall we?'

* * *

Baxter made his way out of the Council Building and headed back to the SUV. He dumped the armful of files he was carrying onto the passenger seat and slid behind the wheel. He fumbled in his jacket pocket for his phone; he wasn't looking forward to telling Lisa that he had failed to keep Jack and Ianto apart as instructed; the woman had a terrible temper,. He dialled and the call was answered on the first ring.

'I assume the fact that you are calling me not ten minutes after the end of the meeting means Harkness isn't with you?'

'Er-no' Baxter braced himself for Lisa's anger but it was not forthcoming. Instead she sounded almost pleased.

'Was Ianto at the meeting?'

'Yes'

'hmm' mused Lisa, 'What was he like around Jack?'

'Bit stand-offish at first' said Steve, 'but a couple of times I caught him looking at the Captain like he wanted to eat him.'

Lisa laughed, 'and Jack? Did he notice Ianto noticing him?'

Baxter grinned relaxing as her realised that Lisa wasn't going to chew him out for his failure to keep the two men apart, 'hell yeah. By the end of the meeting if their eye fucking had gotten any more intense there would have been come on the carpet.'

'Excellent' said Lisa, 'Ianto still has feelings for him. That will make things even easier.'

'I don't see how' confessed Steve

Lisa's exasperated sigh echoed down the phone, 'If my darling husband is still in love with Harkness it makes it much easier to control him by threatening Jack. We can put pressure on Ianto to stay away from the Captain. The more Ianto pushes him away, the more Jack will pursue Ianto. You have seen what our Captain is like when he is denied something he desires; eventually it will be all he cares about, all he thinks about. Whilst those two freaks are crucifying each other emotionally we will have effectively removed the weak and incompetent from Cardiff underworld. With the elimination of Bill Edwards there are four major criminal groups left in the city and we will be able to move onto the final phase of our project.'

Baxter rolled his eyes, 'and are you ever going to tell me what that final phase is? We have cleaned up, why don't we quit whilst we are ahead?'

Lisa snorted, 'your problem Baxter is that you never think big. OK we have cleared 70 million quid but it's only a matter of time before those unnatural bitches Sato and Finlay realise that Cro.O is linked to Torchwood and once they do it's a small deductive leap to working out that we are involved. The four gangs left are about to be invited to participate in an auction, it will cost them £5 million to register and bidding will start at £10 million.'

'Bidding for what'

'The access codes for Torchwood Three, the Hub, the weapons store and the secure archives'

* * *

Jack walked three paces behind Ianto, partly because he wasn't sure where Ianto's office was but mainly because he was enjoying watching the movement of Ianto's tight buttocks underneath the fine wool of his well cut trousers. In fact he was so mesmerised by the sight that he hadn't noticed that Ianto had stopped and cannoned into the back of him.

Ianto turned to face Jack with an, oh so familiar, raised eyebrow, 'distracted are we, Sir?'

Jack blushed, 'no, not at all I...er...I'

Ianto took pity on him, opening the door he gestured for Jack to enter, 'this is me' he said

Jack looked around the spacious office with an impressed whistle, 'wow this is a bit different to the Tourist Office.'

'Well, yeah' laughed Ianto,' I have windows and natural daylight for a start.'

'And a view' said Jack moving over to the window and gazing out at the water shimmering in the wharf in front of the building. Turning he caught sight of an ornate picture frame on the desk, he moved to pick it up but Ianto forestalled him by snatching it up and sliding it into a drawer.

Jack frowned but Ianto met his gaze unrepentantly, 'I told you to stay away from my son ' he said

Jack was wounded, 'what? I can't even look at his picture?' he asked

Ianto had the grace to look uncomfortable. 'Why would you want to?'

Jack looked straight into Ianto's eyes, 'because he's important to you' he said quietly, 'because he is what kept your attention for the four years I was missing, because he gave for a focus and kept you strong for me to come back to.' He shrugged, 'I owe him'

Ianto moved around the desk to stand in front of him. Jack could feel the heat of the younger man's body thorough his shirt. Ianto reached up and rested his palm against Jack's cheek, smiling gently as Jack pushed against his touch, 'Oh Jack' whispered Ianto, 'four years and I still haven't learned how to be without you.'

Jack took a step back, arms crossed protectively across his chest, rubbing his upper arms as if to warm them. Ianto frowned 'are you cold Jack?' That didn't compute with Ianto, if anything the council building was suffocatingly overheated, as was Jack from what Ianto remembered.

'No' Jack shook his head, 'it's just...since my time on The Valiant I've had a problem with my arms.'

_Oh God_ thought Ianto, _the torture_. A disturbingly vivid little picture formed in his head of Jack naked, beaten, chained, hanging from a ceiling, toes barely scrapping the ground beneath. He took a step towards Jack, closing the distance between them once more, placing gentle hands on Jack's shoulders. 'Tell me' he begged softly, 'what did they do to you Cariad. What is the matter with your arms?'

Jack looked at Ianto through a prism of tears, 'you aren't in them' he murmured

And then Ianto was.

* * *

For a long breathless moment Jack thought his heart had stopped, the familiar feel of the play of muscles under Ianto's shirt, the unique taste of Ianto's lips, and the soft sweep of his tongue over the roof of his mouth were experiences and memories he had struggled to protect and retain as he endured the attentions of The Master. Judging by Ianto's stormy reaction to Jack being returned by the Doctor four years later than he anticipated, he had never expected to hold the younger man in his arms again.

It was Ianto who broke the kiss to stare at Jack with hungry eyes; he ran the tips of his fingers over Jacks face as if he was trying to create a sense memory of his features. Jack smiled and tightened his hold

'You here with me, this is how the universe is meant to work' said Jack, his breath warm and soft in Ianto's ear. Ianto was trembling in his embrace and he rested his head on Jack's shoulder with a soft sigh

'We can't' he said

'Can't what?' murmured Jack running his tongue around the shell of Ianto's ear making him shiver before leaning forward to sprinkle light kisses across his neck drawn a quiet moan from him. Jack pulled Ianto closer so that their mutual arousal could be felt. Jack gave a small thrust, grinning as Ianto reciprocated. Distracting Ianto with a sharp nip to the soft skin above his collar, Jack insinuated his hand inside the younger mans trousers whilst urging Ianto's hand towards his own flies.

'We can't' said Ianto again, although he sounded less certain than previously

Jack squeezed gently making Ianto's hot erection jump against his own, 'what can;t we do?' he murmured softly

With a muffled sob Ianto pushed him away. 'Cant' do this' he clarified, 'can't be more than colleagues, casual acquaintances.

'Is it Lisa?' asked Jack trying to control both his breathing and his erection

Ianto shook his head; he took Jack's hand and led him to the large sofa which graced one wall. He motioned Jack to sit and then arranged himself across Jack's lap so that he could lean against his chest and look into his face

Jack frowned 'I gotta tell you, Yan. I'm getting a lot of mixed messages here.'

Ianto nuzzled into Jack's neck, 'I know and I'm sorry Jack. What I am doing to you is unforgivable and selfish. I know I keep pushing you away and then I behave like this and it's so unfair of me. I can't be around you, I can't – I have my responsibilities and I need you to trust me.'

Jack slid his arms around Ianto's waist, 'I know you are married, ' he said desperately, 'but this planet is not so primitive that divorce is seen as a shameful thing, you could divorce Lisa, I'm sure we could come to some arrangement with her about Carwyn. You have been his main carer after all.'

Ianto stole a kiss, 'it's not possible Jack. It's not about shame or who I care for,' he looked deep into Jack's eyes, 'it's about protecting the people I love from threats they are unaware of. It's about doing whatever I have to do to keep those people safe and what I have to do is keep you well away from me and mine but it's so hard, I didn't think it would be this hard.' He pressed another desperate kiss to Jack's mouth, his tongue apologetically stroking Jack's and his tears moistening their joined lips.

Jack stared at his ex-lover with tears standing in his own eyes, the desperation in Ianto's kiss convinced him that Ianto, at least, believed they should never be together again and believed it deeply even though it was tearing him apart. Gently he slid the distraught young man from his lap and when they were both on their feet held him loosely in his arms.

'This is a good bye, isn't it?' he said sadly

Ianto gave a muffled sob, 'maybe it's the goodbye we should have had four years ago'

Jack rested his forehead on Ianto's, 'four years ago I should never have left you.'

Ianto gave a small smile, 'fucking Doctor should have bought you back to me before everything got so messy.'

Jack gave him another small kiss, 'I don't understand why you are forcing us apart, Yan but if you believe it's necessary then I'll wait until you say we can be together again.'

'Jack I wouldn't ask that of you.'

Jack managed a watery smile, 'I have eternity, and I'd wait for you for every second if I knew that at the end of it I'd be in your arms again.'

Ianto clung on to Jack fisting his hand into the fabric of his shirt, 'I love you, please don't forget that'

'I love you too'

They broke apart, both openly weeping.

'Goodbye, Cariad'

'Goodbye, my love'

Once more, it was Ianto who turned and walked away, closing his office door behind him quietly, leaving Jack alone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Four days later – Friday Evening**

It was an unseasonably warm evening and in different parts of Cardiff various very worried people were having intense and important conversations concerning individuals who were totally unaware of the concern they were inspiring.

* * *

**Lisa & Steve**

Lisa stirred her coffee and watched Steve Baxter as he made his way across the food court towards her, she sighed, she was going to have to do something about him, he was getting too clingy and assuming too much about what he thought was their relationship and what Lisa knew was just another way for her to control him. Sex made men so easy to manage, a little friction in a warm wet place and a clever woman could lead them around like pet dogs. She snorted, virtually the only thing that made her so-called marriage to Ianto bearable was the fact that the young man seemed to have no interest in her sexually, in fact he seemed practically frigid as a consequence of Harkness' abandonment of him; his entire attention was focused upon that whiny brat of his. She was lucky that she was so good at dissimulation, once Jones was convinced she loved him, making him believe she cared about the brat was easy. He was so desperate to be loved it was almost too easy to manipulate him. She despised Jones almost as much as she despised Baxter; she was surprised how easily he had accepted her back into his life given the state he had been in after loss of his lover but, she had to admit, he had been extremely useful in terms of getting the Torchwood team to trust and accept her and as her husband he gave her instant credibility around both the police and the city council

Baxter placed his coffee down and bent to kiss her. Lisa only just managed to keep the distaste from her face. _Thank God_ she thought to herself_, that I only have to put up with this slobbering idiot for another week or so, I just need to decide how to dispose of him. _She plastered a fake smile on her face and leant across the table, 'how are things going with the arrangement for the auction?' she asked

Baxter grinned, 'everything is set up and ready to go' he said, 'all but one of the crime syndicates in Cardiff have deposited their joining fee, the Griffiths Group have withdrawn their expression of interest and my sources tell me Owen Griffiths and his lieutenants are preparing to leave the city. Do you want me to arrange...?' he paused delicately

Lisa shook her head, 'no let them go' she said, 'we won't be here to see the carnage when whoever wins the auction moves in to take control of the rift so why shouldn't Griffiths get away whilst he can?'

Baxter stretched his legs out under the table, brushing against Lisa's calf 'I can't believe that in less than two weeks we'll be out of here and beginning a new life on our own private island in the Seychelles.

'Mmm' said Lisa in a neutral manner, 'who else is registered for our event?'

Baxter pulled a small note book from his pocket and flicked through the pages, 'four fundamentalist terrorist groups representing three different religions from the Middle East, two mafia families, a couple of right wing groups from the USA, six Russian syndicates and...' he paused impressively, 'a small covert section of UNIT and the NSA'

Lisa raised an eyebrow, 'Excellent, they should push the bidding sky high. And the auction is scheduled for...?'

'Wednesday, via a secure VOIP channel' Baxter squirmed in his seat, 'I'm still worried though.'

'What about?'

'Partly about how you are going to deal with Jones and the brat but mainly I am concerned about Harkness.'

Lisa snorted, 'Don't be. I have a plan to manage Harkness and Ianto and Carwyn are crucial to it. Harkness will have too much on his plate to worry about what we are doing and my devoted husband and son will have so much going on they will hardly notice I'm not there'

Baxter reached across the table and picked up Lisa's hand, 'God, you are so sexy when you are planning something evil. '

Lisa slipped off her shoe and ghosted her toes over the bulge in Steve's pants, his eyes darkened with lust and he forgot that Lisa had not really shared any real information with him.

* * *

**Ianto & Carwyn**

Ianto quietly closed the copy of "Winnie the Pooh" that he had been reading to Carwyn and placed a soft kiss on the head of his sleeping son 'sleep safe, sweetheart' he said, 'I love you'

The little boy snuffled under his bedding and murmured, 'love you taddy' before relapsing into sleep. Ianto sat on the small bed and looked down at the dark hair of the little boy who was the centre of his world. Leaning to one side, he picked up the photo frame that sat next to Carwyn's bed, running his fingers of the smiling images.

'This is our family, the three of us' he said softly to the sleeping child, 'I want you to know that I love you both so much and I promise I would do anything to protect you, I want you to know that baban and remember it. Sometimes loving people means that you have to hurt them as a way to keep them safe. All I want is for the three of us to be OK. I hope you will forgive me for the things I have to do, maybe when you are older and you fall in love you will understand.' Ianto gently ran his fingers through his son's silky soft hair, smiling even as he felt his heart aching. Carwyn shifted in his sleep, trying to sprawl across the bed into his usual sleeping position, his small feet pressing against Ianto's leg. With a sigh, Ianto replaced the photo frame and got to his feet. He picked up Carwyn's favourite toy, a plush airplane, which had somehow made it onto the floor and tucked under the bedclothes, smiling as a tiny hand curled around the tail fin.

For a brief second Ianto paused in the doorway to gaze lovingly at his boy before heaving a sigh and heading downstairs to pour himself a drink.

* * *

**Jack & Gwen **

Jack was gazing sightlessly as Owen's autopsy report on the unidentified alien that the Rift had spit up earlier that day, although the team were already at the scene the unfortunate being had died almost instantaneously, suggesting to both Jack and Owen that whatever atmosphere the creature had been born into it was not an oxygen based one. He knew he should be taking more of an interest in the report since Owen had been uncharacteristically excited by his findings but all he could think about was Ianto. Why was he so desperate to keep Jack and Carwyn apart? What could be the harm in Jack looking at Carwyn's photograph? Jack started to do some pregnancy math and came to the only conclusion possible

'Carwyn is mine, he's mine' he laughed joyously, a child with Ianto was all he had dared himself to hope for, then he sobered, 'but how? And why didn't Ianto tell me? Why is he keeping us apart?' Jack thought back to how strange Tosh and Owen had been when he came back, how they kept insisting that he should speak to Ianto and how complicated the situation was. He knew he had lost the chance to have that sort of conversation with his beloved Welshman and he also knew that Tosh would not talk about Ianto behind his back and Owen would not break doctor/patient confidentiality. He needed someone who was not a close friend of Ianto's, who would be willing to share gossip, who would happily tell him anything he asked, he needed...

'GWEN!'

The tap-tap of high heeled running echoed through the Hub and Gwen shot into Jack's office.

'You bellowed,' she asked with a grin

'Yeah' Jack gestured towards the sofa, 'have a seat.' He moved around the desk to join the clearly excited woman.

Gwen angled herself to look into Jack's face. _At last_, she thought to herself_, he has realised that he needs me. Without that fucking Ianto Jones demanding his attention all the time he has been able see how brilliant we can be together. _She rested her arm along the back of the sofa and gently stroked the back of Jack's hand, ignoring his hastily repressed shudder. 'What can I do for you Jack?' she purred seductively

Jack swallowed hard, Christ this was making him uncomfortable, he pasted on his trademark smile and leant towards her, 'We haven't had a chance to catch up properly since I got back. So, how is everything with you?' He endured almost twenty minutes of Gwen's inane chatter before he allowed himself to ask, 'what's the story with Ianto and Carwyn?'

Gwen's eyes went slightly glassy and much of the enthusiasm died out of her voice. 'It was so sad. Ianto had cheated on you, Jack ; it must have been a couple of months before you left us because about eight months later a social worker turned up at Ianto's flat with Carwyn. His mother had been killed in a car crash and, as she had no living relatives and Ianto was registered on the birth certificate as the father, Carwyn became his responsibility. It was lucky really because he had tried to kill himself a couple of times.' She gave a bitter laugh, 'such an attention seeker but once Carwyn arrived he pulled himself together.'

Jack felt sick, _he cheated on me? With a one night stand? Oh Yan, no, no. I know we never talked about exclusivity but he must have known I hadn't been with anyone but him for months. Oh. but multiple suicide attempts, gods I must have hurt him so much. A single one night stand doesn't mean anything. Does he think I'm so petty that I would take my anger out on a child, on his child? How could we have got each other so wrong? _ With an effort he tuned back in to what Gwen was saying.

'We were all worried when UNIT sent Lisa Hallet to act as Director but she and Ianto became very close very quickly so she assimilated into the team really easily. Then when they got married we were all please because it was good for Carwyn too, especially as his mum was from the same ethnic background.' She sighed and gave a syrupy and sentimental grin, 'they make such a lovely family.' She looked at Jack, blinked and edged closer to him, 'Ianto and Lisa are happy, Tosh and Owen are happy, when is it my turn, Jack? When are you going to make me happy, hmm?'

Jack pressed himself back against the arm of the sofa in a futile attempt to avoid her advances, grabbing her by her shoulders to try and keep her away but Gwen was having none of it, she launched herself at Jack, clawing at his flies with hot hungry hands. With a shrill cry Jack thrust her away from him and she hit the ground with an undignified thud and scowled up at Jack, furiously

'You fucking feeble excuse for a man' she spat as she scrambled to her feet, 'once you have stopped crying like a love sick girl over that stupid pile of shit and his bastard brat, let me know and I'll throw you a shag you for old times' sake. But make it soon because I'm getting seriously bored with this angsty shit you are pulling. Jones will never take you back, he hates you, he is playing with you – puling you close and then pushing you away. He knows how much that will hurt you. He must be laughing to see how pathetic you are – he doesn't love you, he despises you. His family is everything to him and you...you are nothing Jack, less than nothing.' She turned on her heel and stalked out of the office and back to her desk

Jack had heard nothing of her words, just the tone. The vicious taunting cadence took Jack back to The Valiant, to those times when the Master had amused himself by cutting away chunks of Jack's flesh whist lecturing him about what a freak he was and how relieved his lover must be to be free of his detested attentions. With a smothered sob he curled into the smallest ball he could and grieved afresh for Ianto because for the first time he truly believed that Ianto had betrayed him, did not love him and he would never rest in his arms again.


	8. Chapter 8

From where she was reviewing the logs of Lisa Jones' computer activity, Susan looked up to see Gwen storm out of Jack's office, face red with anger and mortification. _Turned you down did_ he she thought to herself with satisfaction, _good_. She watched from the corner of her eye as Gwen flung herself down at her work station, Susan frowned _she is angry so she will have lashed out; if she has hurt him I will kill her. _Susan did not bother to analyse her protective attitude towards Jack Harkness, she knew full well where it had come from; she had always had a deep respect for the man but from the moment she had outlined her suspicions about Lisa and Steven to him and he had listened to her with such attention, she was determined that she would support him and defend him to the limits of her abilities and beyond. She decided that she would wait for fifteen minutes to allow the Captain to compose himself and then she would go up to the office and interfere in something that Tosh and Owen had made very clear to her was none of her business.

Jack lay curled in a ball of abject misery until eventually there was a knock on the door and Susan Finlay entered. Her pale, slightly exophthalmic eyes took in the scene before her and she felt a spasm of fury which did not bode well for Gwen Cooper. Moving with her customary soft footedness, Susan moved up to the side of the sofa and, kneeling, placed a soft and gentle hand on her distressed leader's forehead.

'Sir,' she murmured in a low comforting tone, 'Captain Harkness.' Then, in a sharper tone, 'JACK'

Jack's eyes refocused themselves and with an embarrassed cough he pushed himself into a sitting position wiping his eyes and his nose on his shirt sleeve. Susan rolled her eyes, pulled a clean handkerchief from the pocket of her cardigan and passed it over to him.

'Sorry' sniffed Jack, 'I don't know what's the matter with me'

Susan leaned back, 'I do' she said, 'twelve months of unrelenting torture have left you fragile and wounded and scared. If, as I suspect, you have been tortured by an expert you will be disorientated and confused. You have been doing a great job as leader of Torchwood Three since you returned but I suspect that you distrust yourself when it comes to reading people and deciding whether they are lying to you or not'

Jack nodded, 'the person I could read the best is confusing me the most'

'Ianto?' guessed Susan

'Yeah,' Jack sighed, 'it's all so confusing. He says he still loves me but then he says he won't leave Lisa, he says my leaving almost destroyed him but also that he never wants to see me again and then there's Carwyn – if he's not mine why can't I see him? What is he trying to hide from me? Is Gwen right? Does he hate me so much that he has come up with this imaginative way to torture me?' he put his head in his hands, 'If he hates me, what is left for me on this planet but if I'm wrong and he really does love me but is pushing me away for reasons of his own how can I possibly walk away from him?' Susan sat down next to him, silently comforting. Jack continued, 'it's like being inside a kaleidoscope just when I think I can see the pattern of reality the whole thing shifts again and I'm back to where I started.' He sighed heavily, 'I've lived a long time, I've done questionable things and have had unspeakable things done to me but I have always survived with my psyche intact but now...' he put his head in his hands, finger tugging at his dark hair, '...I'm scared I'm losing my mind.'

'I don't know Mr Jones very well,' said Susan, clambering up to sit beside the distraught man 'but from my observations I would say he loves you very much'

'Yeah but...' Jack's voiced cracked with emotion, 'Gwen said...'

'Oh Gwen, Gwen, Gwen' Susan put a kindly arm around Jack's shoulder and somehow, although she was only in her late forties, Jack felt as if he was a child again being comforted by his amya, his grandmother, after a nightmare. She had possessed the skill to calmly and logically talk him out of his irrational terrors and the quiet and unassuming intelligence officer had the same talent.

Susan shifted to look into Jack's face and smiled at him. 'Do you love Ianto?' she asked

'Yes' said Jack without hesitation

'Do you trust him?'

'Yes'

'Do you think he always has your best interests at heart?'

'Yes'

'Ok then' Susan gave a satisfied nod, 'now then, do you love Gwen?'

'No'

'Do you trust her?'

'No'

'Do you think she always has your best interests at heart?'

'Hell, no'

'So why do you find it so easy to believe what she tells you but find it so hard to believe what Ianto says?'

'I...I...'

Susan leant back and started at a spot on the ceiling, 'My partner, Olivia, is a research chemist,' she said apparently at random, 'when we were in London she worked at the UNIT research facility. She was working on Retcon 2.0. Unlike the retcon we use here it did not wipe memories but over wrote them, modified certain elements if you like. So, for example, if one of the members of your team was suffering in some way and one of their colleagues was behaving in an unreliable and cruel manner towards them and putting everyone at risk you could slip the unpleasant colleague Retcon 2.0, provide them with strong memories of alternate reality – make them remember the story in a different way, make them believe it.'

Jack frowned, 'why are you telling me this?'

Susan rolled her head to look straight into Jack's eyes, 'one of the characteristics of the drug that Olivia was working to eliminate,' she said carefully, 'was one that made it too easily detectable; if you asked the person who had been given it to tell you what they remembered, they always used the same words, always the same words, the phrases they used never varied; made it real easy to tell if someone had been rewriting the memories of our agents but also made it easy for our enemies to pick up sleeper agents because their stories never varied.'

Jack looked into Susan's face for a nano-second and then it clicked what she was trying to tell him. Before Susan had time to react Jack grabbed her, cradling her face between his hands and placed an enthusiastic kiss on the lips before leaping to his feet and heading out of his office at speed. Susan followed at a more sedate pace, rubbing her lips with the back of her hand. Standing on the walkway outside the office, she looked down into the Hub where Jack was standing over Gwen at her work station; Gwen was looking up at him with a surly expression.

'Come to apologise to me Jack?' she enquired icily. From her vantage point Susan's hands tightened on the railing and she wished it was Cooper's neck.

'Umm not exactly,' said Jack, 'just wanted to get the Ianto story straight in my head. Tell me again'

As before, Gwen's eyes went slightly glassy and she started blankly at Jack. 'It was so sad. Ianto had cheated on you, Jack; it must have been a couple of months before you left us because about eight months later a social worker turned up at Ianto's flat with Carwyn. His mother had been killed in a car crash and, as she had no living relatives and Ianto was registered on the birth certificate as the father, Carwyn became his responsibility. It was lucky really because he had tried to kill himself a couple of times.' She gave a short, bitter laugh, 'such an attention seeker but once Carwyn arrived he pulled himself together. We were all worried when UNIT sent Lisa Hallet to act as Director but she and Ianto became very close very quickly so she assimilated into the team really easily. Then when they got married we were all pleased because it was good for Carwyn too, especially as his mum was from the same ethnic background.' She sighed and gave a syrupy and sentimental grin, 'they make such a lovely family.'

Jack's eyes met Susan's across the Hub, 'Sorry, Gwen' he said, 'I zoned out a bit then, tell me about Ianto and Carwyn.'

Gwen sighed, 'it was so sad. Ianto had cheated on you, Jack; it must have been a couple of months before you left...'

Susan cleared her throat, 'Captain, may I have a word, please?' she feared Jack would spend all night asking Gwen the same question.

Jack turned and began to walk away from Gwen who could still be heard telling her story despite the fact that her audience had wandered off. Susan met Jack at the foot of the stairs and looked into his face anxiously

'Did Tosh and Owen do this?' he asked

Susan shrugged, 'All I can tell you is Cooper was giving Ianto a very hard time when I joined. Carwyn was about three months old and she was constantly undermining his confidence as a father and also about your departure. She had him convinced that you had left because you suspected him of cheating, that you hated him. One day he made a spectacularly serious effort kill himself hidden away down in your bunker. He had left a note for Dr Harper, I never saw the contents but after he had read it Owen suddenly insisted that we should all have our broad spectrum inoculations. Dunno what was in Cooper's but, like magic she became the insincerely compassionate bitch you see before you. That's when I started to wonder but Ms Sato and Dr Harper made it extremely clear it was not my business.'

'Urggh' Jack's groan of frustration echoed around the Hub, 'So what am I supposed to do now?' Susan pressed a folded piece of paper into Jack's hand and he looked down in surprise, 'What's this?'

Susan smiled, 'the name of the park playground that Carwyn spends every Saturday afternoon at with his father. Go and talk to them both.'


	9. Chapter 9

**Saturday Afternoon**

Jack stood at the edge of the park, looking anxiously around. He had been prowling the perimeter of the park for nearly thirty minutes and he was starting to get some suspicious looks from some of the parents. He was terribly grateful to Susan Finlay for the information that Ianto and Carwyn would be here but he couldn't help but wish that she had been more specific with her directions and he was starting to fear that either he had missed Ianto or that the young father had decided to take Carwyn somewhere else like the movies. _No,_ Jack told himself firmly, _not a movie, it's a gorgeous day just the day for a small boy to be outside. _Just as he was about to turn away to continue his search elsewhere in the park, Jack caught sight of Ianto and his breath caught in his chest. A casually dressed Ianto, in loose fitting jeans and a long sleeved forest green tee-shirt, was slouched across a bench, his face turned towards the sunshine. From where he was standing Jack could see a slight reddening at the base of the young man's throat where he had caught the sun and had sudden desire to sooth the soreness with his tongue. Now that Jack had found his quarry he found that all he wanted to do was stay concealed and watch Ianto whilst he was so relaxed and uninhibited. He didn't want to be the person who ruined the young man's peace.

Ianto tilted his head back and relished the unseasonal warmth painting his skin and let out a long sigh. He loved this; it was his special time of the week when he spent two or three hours with Carwyn, just him and his son having fun. Carwyn was racing around the playing field intent on some game of his own and Ianto watched from his favourite bench, smiling to see his son so happy. Sometimes Ianto would play a little game of his own, he would pretend that, instead being trapped in his loveless and unhappy marriage with Lisa, Jack had never left and they were bringing Carwyn up together in a home that was full of laughter and love. He imagined that Jack was sitting on the bench beside him; Jack would have his arm resting across Ianto's shoulders, fingers playing with his hair and Ianto would have pulled Jack's other hand into his lap entwining their fingers whilst watching Carwyn play. Occasionally, when they thought no-one was looking, they would exchange small kisses, or Jack would lean in and whisper into Ianto's ear all the glorious filthy things he planned to do with him later that evening. A tiny smile lifted one corner of the young man's mouth as he revelled in his fantasy. He was a shocked back to reality by a warm American voice,

'Is this seat taken?'

Ianto's eyes flew open, for a moment he felt disorientated; it was almost as if he had magiced Jack into existence by the strength of his longing. He couldn't find his breath to speak, instead he simply gawked moronically at the handsome Captain who just grinned and settled himself comfortably on the seat next to Ianto, close enough that their thighs were touching, making Ianto blush and shift uncomfortably as Jack's proximity sent a rush of blood to his groin.

'Jack, what...what are you doing here?' he managed to stammer, looking around the park in terror 'you shouldn't be here. It's not safe' he frowned and tired to pull himself together, 'how did you know...'

Jack cleared his throat, 'We need to talk, Yan. I'm tired of the dance we have been forced into. This is killing me and it's not fair on you or Carwyn either for that matter – now, whether we end up together or not, we are going to have a full and frank exchange of information. '

Ianto stared, 'Jack I told you, I begged you to stay away from me and Car...'

'Yeah, that's another thing' broke in Jack, 'I want to see Carwyn. I want to know the truth, you tell me he is Lisa's, Gwen told me some cock and bull story about him been the result of a one night stand, Tosh and Owen won't tell me anything. I have my own theories and so I want to see the boy for myself'

Ianto opened his mouth to deny Jack's request when a small solid body crashed into his legs and sprawled across his lap panting.

'Taddy, Taddy, you weren't watching me'

Jack looked at the little boy who had now wriggled off his father's lap and was jumping around before him, the dark wavy hair, the tiny tip tilted nose and terrifyingly intelligent eyes caused a bouquet of hope to bloom in Jack's chest.

'Taddy, Taddy!'

Ianto pulled the hot, overexcited child back onto his lap and fished in his bag for a juice box, 'just calm down a moment Carwyn,' he said, handing the drink to his son, 'Taddy's talking to his friend so be polite'

Two bright blue eyes fixed on Jack's and a small sticky hand was thrust towards him, 'Hello' said Carwyn, 'my name is Carwyn. Who are you?'

There was a lump in Jack's throat that no amount of swallowing could dislodge, 'hello Carwyn,' he managed to croak out with a weak smile, 'my name is Jack'

Carwyn was staring at Jack's greatcoat, 'do you like planes?' he asked

Jack smiled, 'yes, very much.'

Carwyn nodded seriously as if to say that he had suspected as much, 'I'm playing planes, I'm a Hurricane ' he announced, 'you can play too if you like.'

Jack brightened, 'Can I be a Spitfire?' he asked

'If you want,' Carwyn wriggled off of Ianto's lap as Jack stood and removed his coat, handing it to Ianto who absent mindedly folded it neatly, smoothing the fabric as he did so.

Jack smiled down at him, 'he is a lovely little boy, he knows his aircraft too'

Ianto looked up and smiled back, 'yeah, he is plane crazy – I can't think where he got that from. '

'He seems very self-possessed and advanced for what...three?'

Three and a half' confirmed Ianto, 'he is a precocious child, walking at six months, talking fluently by twelve, reading by three.'

'Challenging' commented Jack

Ianto's eyes were following Carwyn who was running around the bench, 'worth every argument with social workers and nursery owners and school teachers, worth every sleepless night, worth everything' he said quietly

'School teachers?' queried Jack

'The phrase "child prodigy" gets used a lot' admitted Ianto, 'he started school in September and there is already talk of skipping him ahead a year.'

'Wow'

'Yeah'

Jack looked into Ianto's eyes, 'he doesn't look much like Lisa,' he said softly

For a brief second Ianto looked as if he was once more going to refuse to engage with Jack on the subject but then, all at once, he realised that he was tired of the lying and deceit, tired of denying himself what he wanted with all his heart, tired of lying to the one person in the universe he loved to distraction, tired of being miserable, tired of keeping his amazing son from having someone wonderful in his life and all his resolve faltered and drained away. _Fuck it,_ he thought viciously _fuck everything and especially fuck you, Lisa. _Before he could over think anything he leapt to his feet and pulled Jack into his arms

'Don't be a twpsyn, Jack. Look at him. He's yours. Of course he is yours. He's ours. We made him.'

'I knew it,' Jack was laughing even though he had tears sliding down his cheeks, 'he's smart and he's beautiful' he whispered

'Like his Dad' mumbled Ianto as he sought Jack's lips

'Like both his dads'

Jack's attention was captured by small hands tugging at his pants. He looked down to see a very familiar pout on Carwyn's small face, 'come and play, come on'

Jack ran his fingers over Ianto's mouth, 'to be continued' he promised. Then he was off, arms outstretched, racing over the grass with his son – being a Spitfire.


	10. Chapter 10

**Later that same Saturday – early evening**

Ianto was supposed to be pouring some wine but instead he was standing silently at the foot of his staircase listening intently as Captain Jack Harkness, saviour of the world on more than one occasion, interplanetary sex god, legend across the seven galaxies and former Time Agent read Winnie-the-Pooh to his son. Carwyn and Jack had been upstairs for over an hour and for a while, the gales of hysterical giggles from both of them had made Ianto fear that Jack was over stimulating his son to the point he would not sleep but eventually things had settled down and there had been silence for the last ten minutes. Slipping off his shoes, Ianto moved quietly up the stairs to Carwyn's bedroom. In the doorway of the room he stopped with a soft gasp, he had never seen such a beautiful sight in all of his life. A gently snoring Jack was lying on the bed with Carwyn fast asleep across his chest, both of then grasping Carwyn's plush plane in their joined hands. Moving carefully Ianto pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped the picture the two of them made. Then he moved to the side of the bed and, placing his lips close to Jack's ear whispered, 'wake up, Cariad'

With an endearing little snort, Jack jerked awake to find two grey blue eyes staring lovingly into his own. He yawned and placed a small kiss on the end of Ianto's nose.

'Sorry' he mumbled, 'our son exhausted me'

Ianto thought he might die of happiness at hearing the joy and deep contentment in Jack's voice, he gave Jack a radiant smile and in a low voice said 'I've opened a bottle of wine and ordered some Chinese food for us, I think we both have some catching up to do.'

Jack carefully disentangled himself from Carwyn who immediately spread himself out across the mattress. His attention was caught by the photo frame on the bedside table. On one side there was a picture of himself with Ianto seated across his lap, his arm looped around Jack's neck; both of them laughing and happy and on the other side there was a picture of a pale and tired looking Ianto cradling a new born Carwyn in him arms and gazing into his face with naked love and adoration. Jack picked the frame up and raised an eyebrow at Ianto, who blushed.

'I wanted him to know who his real family were. I wanted him to know about you. I made sure to tell him every night how much you would love him.'

Jack grimaced, 'and Lisa was OK with that?'

Ianto took the photographs from Jack's hands and put the pictures back where Carwyn would see them if he woke up, 'Lisa has no time for Carwyn,' he said sadly, 'she never comes in here.'

'Oh Yan' Jack didn't know what to say

Ianto took hold of his hand, 'come on' he said, 'time for us to talk.'

* * *

Ianto led Jack down the stairs and into a large comfortably appointed room. Ianto sat at one end of the sofa, clearly expecting Jack to sit facing him at the other end but Jack wasn't up for that, at all. With a broad smile he pulled Ianto to his feet and into his arms before manoeuvring both of them back down to lie full length, knees, groins, bellies and chests pressed close together. At first Jack thought Ianto was going to protest but with a small satisfied sigh the young man nuzzled into Jack's neck and relaxed into his embrace.

'So, how do you want to do this' asked Jack

'Ask me anything you want to know, that's probably the best way. I'll tell you everything I can if you'll try to do the same for me'

'OK' Jack paused then, 'where's Lisa?'

Ianto laughed, 'really? That's your first question?'

'Gods, no!' Jack smirked, 'I just wondered if she was gonna come in and freak out at finding me here.'

Ianto looked puzzled, 'she's covering the nightshift at the Hub' he said, 'you know that.'

'No she isn't' corrected Jack and then wished he could rip his tongue out

'Hmm' Ianto seemed sanguine about his wife's deception, 'another lie. She's probably fucking that creep Baxter then or planning world domination, either way she won't be home much before morning. '

Jack frowned, 'what's the story with you two?'

'Is that your question?'

'Yeah'

Ianto sighed and rested his forehead against Jack's, 'I was a mess when you left, Jack. I wasn't sleeping, or eating, I couldn't focus, couldn't concentrate. I wouldn't believe that you had gone voluntarily and I spent days reviewing CCTV footage looking for you – I was obsessive. At first, I thought the tiredness and nausea were part of being so depressed but then I passed out in the archives a couple of times and Owen found out that I was pregnant. He and Tosh were brilliant, they basically saved our lives, made me eat, got me some emotional help, made sure I slept and looked after myself and then Carwyn came along. He was so perfect I could hardly believe I had helped create him and things started to get better until...' he trailed off

Jack kissed him, 'let me guess' he said, 'Gwen?'

Ianto sighed, 'yeah. She made it clear from day one that she blamed me for you leaving – she was constantly telling me that I was useless, that I must have been a crap shag because I couldn't even keep you here, that if she had been with you, as she was meant to be, you would still be with us, that I had ruined everything for the whole team. When she found about the baby she got worse, her jealousy became everything she was; she called me freak, said I was unnatural.' Jack flinched; The Master had delighted in saying much the same things to him during his year of captivity and his sould ached for them both. Ianto held him closer and continued, 'she was relentless, it was a constant barrage of hatred. Once Carwyn was born she never missed a chance to denigrate me as a parent, kept telling me it was clear I wasn't coping, filling my head with stories about how, if you did come back, you would not want me any longer, that you were not the sort of man who would want to be burdened with a child, that we were a liability. One day it just got too much and I couldn't bear it any longer so I went down into your bunker and...' he pulled back from Jack a little and pushed up the sleeves of his tee-shirt, Jack could just make out two long thin silver vertical scars running down each arm.

'Oh Yan' whispered Jack, placing soft apologetic kisses on the damaged skin

'It was a long time ago now,' said Ianto pushing his sleeves back down and settling back into Jack's arms, ' Tosh found me,' he closed his eyes, 'that's another debt I owe her that I can never repay and something I can never apologise to her enough about. Anyway, by the time I had recovered Gwen had got this ridiculous story in her head about Carwyn being the result of a one night stand, she loved the idea that I was supposed to have cheated on you. I eventually got Tosh to admit that she and Owen had used some kind of experimental Retcon on her, to get her off my back. The story was fixed in her head so firmly she didn't even question how a heterosexual one night stand would result in a male pregnancy.'

Jack chuckled, 'she has never been the greenest blurg in the podule'

'What?'

Jack tried again, 'the brightest bulb in the box? The tastiest sandwich at the picnic? The sharpest knife in the drawer?'

'Oh right' Ianto was about to resume his story when Jack interrupted him again,

'When do we get the Lisa bit?'

Ianto smiled and kissed him, the kiss lasted for quite some time and it was with a real effort that the two men eventually pulled apart, 'the Lisa bit is coming Cariad, be patient'

Jack managed a contrite pout which just made Ianto want to kiss him again, 'OK, carry on'

'The team was falling apart' continued Ianto, 'I was worse than useless, Owen and Tosh didn't want the leadership role, they had enough to do and Gwen was temperamentally unsuited to being the boss. Then one morning, when Gwen was on the phone to UNIT she lost her temper with a Colonel Danvers and let slip that you were missing. That really put the cat among the pigeons and UNIT immediately took the opportunity to move in on us. Tosh and Owen were furious with her but, having said that, although none of us wanted UNIT's help, it was a bit of a relief when Lisa turned up. Within a fortnight we were back on track. At first she was so lovely, she seemed to adore Carwyn and she was so amazingly kind to me. I'd known her at One, she was a field operative on special ops and we had dated a couple of times before she was shipped out on a mission. I helped her when she first came to Cardiff, found her somewhere to stay, showed her around a bit, stuff like that, it was almost like therapy for me, getting me back into the real world. We started to see each other, the occasional meal out but mainly movies and takeaway here because of Carwyn, nothing too heavy, she didn't seem that interested in sex, she was only really demanding when she was drunk and to be honest that was quite a relief to me at that time' Jack felt his heart spasm, the Ianto he knew loved sex, was adventurous and generous in bed and vocal in his pleasure. Ianto seemed to realise how Jack was feeling and he brushed a reassuring hand over the older man's face before continuing, 'after a while Lisa said she loved me. It was so nice to be loved that I thought I must love her back. No-one had ever loved me before, apart from Carwyn of course.'

Tears were sparkling on Jack's eyelashes, 'I loved you Yan, I still love you, I swear to you I always will. Please believe me.'

'I do' murmured Ianto, ' I do now, but back then...you never told me before you left, I thought Gwen was right, I was just a convenient hole to shag.'

'Oh Goddesses, I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry'

Ianto held him tightly, 'anyway, once we were married she changed almost overnight. She dropped all pretence about caring about Carwyn; that's mainly why I took the job of council liaison; I wasn't prepared to trust Car with Lisa or anyone she might recommend and the council job gave me flexibility and access to the council crèche. She made it clear that she only married me to get some credibility around the city. That was certainly true,' he gave a bitter little laugh, 'I had no idea that I had so many contacts around the city but as Director of Torchwood and also as my wife she was welcomed into the upper echelons of the city council. Private meetings, classified emergency plans, confidential police files – she managed to get access to them all. I knew she was up to something but I couldn't find out what, she is very smart and very sneaky. In the end I challenged her, I told her I was watching her and as soon as she put a foot wrong, as soon I had proof of what she was up to I would call in UNIT.'

Despite himself Jack was enthralled, 'what did she say?' Ianto was silent for a long time. Jack slid a finger under his chin and lifted the young man's chin so that he could look into his lost lover's eyes, 'Ianto?'

Ianto gave a long shuddering sigh, 'she laughed at me. Then she laid her cards on the table, she told me that I would continue to act the devoted husband or she would hand me and Carwyn over to the biological research division of UNIT. A man who had carried a foetus to full term and delivered of a healthy child – well, she left me under no illusion what would happen to us, if she followed through on her threat. She told me she despised me as being weak and pathetic and she loathed Carwyn, she said he was against nature. She made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with me or my son except when it was politically expedient for her to be seen as a doting wife and mother.'

'Fucking bitch' said Jack, his lips brushing Ianto's soft hair, 'so when I came back...'

Ianto laughed, 'she was furious. I don't know what she's up to Jack, honestly I don't but it's something big and you coming back really annoyed her. I think, as well, she was afraid that you would help Carwyn and I get away from her, that you would somehow keep us safe which is why she made me insist that you stay away from us. She also threatened to hand all three of us over, you, me and Carwyn. I didn't care about me but I won't let anything bad happen to Carwyn or you, especially once you had told me about...you know...the torture.'

Jack was trembling with surpassed rage; how typical of Ianto to care more about his lover and his son than himself and how typical of Lisa to spot that and exploit it to her own ends. The sooner Tosh and Susan bought down Lisa and Baxter the better, he only hoped he would have an opportunity to interrogate her himself before UNIT took her off his hands, 'I will get you both away' he promised, 'I'll organise a secure house for you and Carwyn, although it might take me a couple of days. If you can just get through tomorrow, take Carwyn to school as usual on Monday and Tuesday and then on Tuesday evening you and I will pick him up and I'll get you both to safety before I deal with Lisa, OK?'

'Ok'

Jack gently stroked Ianto's face with his finger tips, 'I swear I will protect and love you both for as long as you will let me. I know some of what Lisa and Baxter are up to and by tomorrow Tosh and Susan will have figured out the whole thing and we will have closed her down.'

'Really?' Ianto snuggled closer to Jack, 'then what?'

Jack buried his nose in Ianto's hair, 'then you and me and our son will come back here and live happily ever after.'

Ianto gave a joyous laugh and pulled out of Jack's arms, scrambling to his feet. 'Hey' protested Jack with a pout that what so much like Carwyn's Ianto felt his heart clench, 'That was pretty damn romantic what I just said, don't I at least get a kiss?'

Ianto wriggled his arse at Jack as he headed towards the hallway as the door bell rang again, 'the food is here, Cariad. Make yourself useful, go and fetch plates.'

Jack rolled onto his back, his face split by a massive grin, he was being bossed about and domesticated and, he realised, he could not be happier.


	11. Chapter 11

Ianto sighed contentedly, leant back on the sofa and pushed his plate away, 'I think that's the most I've eaten in four years' he said.

'yeah, me too' Jack leant forward and licked a smear of sweet and sour sauce from the corner of Ianto's mouth, 'Can we go to bed now?' he asked hopefully, sliding his hands under Ianto's tee-shirt and dancing his fingers across his abdomen

With a repressed moan, Ianto grabbed Jack's wandering hands and trapped them between his thighs making Jack groan theatrically

'Sorry Captain Gropey' He smiled into Jack's face, 'but I believe it's my turn to ask a few questions now'

'Ok then' said Jack sulkily, 'but you have to make it up to me later.'

'I promise' said Ianto releasing Jack's hand and placing a soft kiss, with just a hint of tongue, in his palm, 'Jack, how the hell did I get pregnant?'

Jack blushed and threaded their fingers together, 'By the 51st century, the human race is exploding from this planet, exploring and spreading out all over the galaxy. For settlers, such as my parents, life was hard and dangerous. Biomedical techniques, had evolved so that, with a minor adjustment of DNA, men could get pregnant; the process was developed partly as a way to ensure that small communities like the one I grew up in doubled their chances of survival. My mom carried my brother and my dad carried me, it was quite normal at that time for bonded couples to share gestational responsibilities. Sometimes, it was rare but it did happen in couples who had a deep emotional, spiritual and psychic bond, the foetus could be transferred from one partner to another if there was a threat to the pregnant partner' he frowned as he tried to drag the term from his memory, 'it was called...a...a Galbin Transference, it was improperly understood, even in my time. The hypothesis was that the endorphins and pheromone spikes associated with the deeply felt emotion of love triggered some kind of biochemical crisis but it was still an unproven when I left that century. I-I guess I was pregnant when we spent that time together before I went to face Abaddon, but I didn't know, I swear I didn't. I must have unconsciously triggered a Galbin Transference because I knew I was going into a very dangerous situation and I was really frightened, Yan. Even though I was unaware of the pregnancy, my body knew and wanted to keep our child safe.'

Ianto thought back to the time Jack was speaking of. The team had opened the rift and Bilis Manger had summoned his master Abaddon. Jack had a plan to stop him, which sounded close to suicidal to Ianto. Unable to bear the thought that the man he was now certain he loved was once again going to put himself in deadly danger and unwilling to listen to the team bickering between themselves, Ianto had taken himself down to hide in Jack's bunker. Despite the stress, or maybe because of it, he dozed off; the next thing he knew he was being dragged into a frantic embrace and fierce kisses were being scattered across his face and neck whilst urgent fingers fumbled at his fly. He remembered murmuring Jack's name is a sleepy tone which quickly morphed into soft moans as Jack efficiently removed his trousers and slid one, two, three anxious finger into his pulsing hole. As a counterpoint to Jack's frenzied kisses, their coupling was slow, gentle and loving. It was carried out in almost total silence save for Jack's breathing which was harsh and heavy as he eased himself inside Ianto's body. When Jack came, it was not with his usual exuberant yell of completion but quietly, with a soft loving exhalation of Ianto's name which warmed Ianto to his core. As Ianto held Jack's shuddering body he had realised that the Captain was crying, muffling his sobs in Ianto's neck but before he had a chance to ask Jack what the matter was the older man had prised himself out of his arms and was hastily putting his clothing back together before leaving without a backward glance or another word.

'I remember that night' said Ianto softly, 'you were...different, we were different.'

Jack looked at him and smiled, 'There were three of us there that night, we just didn't know that' and gestured with his head up the stairs to where their son was sleeping.

'It's a lot to take in, Jack' said Ianto slowly, 'I thought I'd got pregnant through being careless with some tech in the archives, just another example of my uselessness that Gwen used to berate me about; now you are telling me it's because we are, what, soul mates?'

Jack sighed, 'I wanted to tell you that night how much I loved you but I was afraid to. I was scared that if I told you how I felt about you I would never have the nerve to walk away from you to do my job'

'So, even though you didn't articulate your feelings, this Galbin Transfer thing was only possible because of the strength of the emotional bond that we share, because of how much I love you.'

'Yeah' Jack was trying to look apologetic but could not stop the grin of complete and utter happiness that was painting itself across his handsome features as Ianto used the present tense when speaking of their emotional bond, 'my body obviously knew how much I love you even if my brain hadn't quite caught on at the time.' The grin slipped as Ianto got remained silent, his face buried in his hands and his shoulders shaking. 'Yan? Yan, please don't cry. I'm sorry. I didn't make you pregnant deliberately. If I had known, I would never have left you, I swear. Please, we just got each other back, don't push me away again now.'

Ianto sniffed and wiped his eyes with the heel of his palms, 'I'm not upset with you Cariad, I'm so relieved it happened the way it did. Gods, you suffered so much whilst you were away from me, what the hell would The Master have done to you if you had been pregnant? What would he have done to our son?'

Jack took hold of Ianto's hand and rested it against his cheek, 'you are amazing, you know that? I will never be able to live up to you, never be able to deserve you if I try for the rest of my days.'

Ianto pulled Jack close and kissed him deeply, slipping his fingers under the edge of Jack's shirt and sliding his hands over the Captain's heated skin, brushing his nipples and making the older man release a small hiss of pleasure, then he got to his feet and headed for the door, pausing at the threshold and turning to face Jack, his eyes dancing with mischief, he held out his hand, 'bed?'

Jack groaned and slumped back carefully into the sofa's plush embrace, 'you have made me so hard if I move, I'll come' he admitted with a shamefaced smile

In a trice Ianto was back across the room and on his knees between Jack's spread legs. Locking his eyes upon Jack's face he gently ran his fingers over the heated arousal pressing insistently against the fabric of Jack's pants. Slowly he unfastened Jack's trousers and urged him to raise his hips slightly so that he could free his aching cock from its cloth prison. Jack yelped as Ianto swallowed him to the root. It only took Ianto a couple of sucks before Jack was coming, hard, down Ianto's throat. Ianto sat back on his heels and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. 'Better?' he smirked. Jack made an effort to control his breathing and managed a grateful nod and a soft smile. 'Great' said Ianto 'because I've waited four years to hold you in my arms and I don't want to wait any longer. So, you coming?

Jack pushed himself to his feet and laced his fingers with Ianto's, 'hell, yeah'

* * *

Lisa yawned and stretched her legs as best she could whilst seated behind the wheel of her car. She was parked a short way down the street from the house she shared with Ianto, she had been there for almost three hours watching the black SUV parked outside of her home .

'I fucking warned him what would happen if he disobeyed me.' She murmured as she idly rummaged in her handbag for some mints, 'but he wouldn't listen, oh no, he can't keep his cock in his pants once Harkness is around, stupid boy.' She stiffened as the front door opened spilling warm yellow light across the well maintained garden and into the street. The unmistakable figure of Jack Harkness stepped out of the house and started towards the parked SUV before a slim figure darted out of the house behind him and pulled him into a tight hug which was followed by a long and passionate kiss and some significant groping of arses. Lisa made a small sound of distaste, 'disgusting' she spat, 'the sooner I can deal with them and their bastard brat the better. In fact...' she dug deeper into her bag and pulled out her mobile, pressing speed dial 1.

'Baxter' she snapped as soon as the call was answered, 'I want to move the auction. Is Monday feasible?'

'Umm, yeah, guess so' said Steve

'Lisa drummed her fingers in irritation, 'Don't guess' she let some of her irritation bleed into her voice, 'give me facts.'

'OK. It's too late to get all our bidders online for tomorrow but if I contact them in the morning I could get everyone logged in to the secure site by Monday.'

'Fine, do that. I am sick of this bloody country and the sooner I can get away from Jones' the better.'

'I suppose you want me to reschedule our flights too' asked Baxter

'Yes do it' confirmed Lisa, 'make sure you book us first class seats on a commercial flight. We don't want Harkness doing anything rash like encouraging UNIT to shoot our plane down.'

Baxter's swallow was audible over the line, 'would he do that?'

Lisa snorted, 'of course he would, he's Captain Jack Harkness – don't let the fact he is stupidly besotted with my husband blind you to the fact that he is a very, very dangerous man.'

'But you have a plan right?' said Baxter recalling Lisa's words from the previous evening.

Lisa was watching through the windscreen as Jack and Ianto reluctantly separated. Ianto to return to stand in the doorway of the house and watch as Jack climbed into the SUV and started the engine. With a small cry Ianto ran down the pathway, pulled open the passenger side door of the vehicle and lunged in to place another desperate kiss on Jack's lips. Lisa could hear The Captain's delighted laugh from where she was sitting.

'Lisa? Lisa?' Baxter voice was buzzing anxiously in her ear.

'Sorry what?' said Lisa still distracted by what she had seen

'You have a plan for dealing with Harkness, yes?'

'Oh yes, once I have finished with him he will be completely destroyed, he will never be a problem for us again and the brilliant thing is... I won't have to lay a finger on him. Call me when you have our new arrangements in place.'

She ended the call without waiting to hear Baxter's response and scowled at where Ianto was standing barefoot in the road watching the SUV drive away, 'enjoy him while you can, Ianto' she whispered snidely, 'soon our dashing Captain will have other things to occupy his time.' She watched Ianto walk back into the house they shared, tracking his progress by the turning off of the lights. She decided to wait for an hour before entering the house to make sure her husband would be deeply asleep since she did not want to have to talk to him. She opened her i-pad and pulled up the audio file from the listening device she had secreted in their living room, picking a point at random she clicked "play" Jack's rich emotional tones filtered from the device,

'_**I will get you both away. I'll organise a secure house for you and Carwyn, although it might take me a couple of days. If you can just get through tomorrow, take Carwyn to school as usual on Monday and Tuesday and then on Tuesday evening you and I will pick him up and I'll get you both to safety before I deal with Lisa, OK?'**_

_**'Really?' **_Ianto's voice sounded a little muffled and Lisa could picture him nuzzling Jack's neck,_** 'then what?'**_

**_ 'Then you and me and our son will come back here and live happily ever after.'_**

Lisa threw back her head and laughed until the tears ran down her cheeks, 'oh, my adorable Captain, how you amuse me. By Tuesday evening I will be long gone and Ianto and Carwyn and your 'happy ever after' will be out of your reach for good.'


End file.
